They Are Gutting a Body of Water have built a mixtape around collaboration, and the results arrive as Kool Faith / Loosies II, a sprawling 29-track release due out digitally on October 16 and physically on November 20 via ATO/Julia’s War. The Philadelphia shoegaze band have gathered guests from across their scene, pulling in Spirit of the Beehive, Hotline TNT, RXK Nephew, and more than two dozen other artists along the way.
The band have shared three new songs ahead of the full record: “Kool Marder” featuring Cashier, “The Rook,” and “Free Willy.” The full tracklist runs from “Sport with Me” through “Free Willy,” and it leans heavily on the DIY rock scene the band call home.
The Guest List Runs Long
The mixtape’s roster reads like a map of the current shoegaze and indie rock underground. Among those joining the record:
- Spirit of the Beehive
- Hotline TNT
- RXK Nephew
- DJ Manny
- Cashier
- Haloplus+
- Morgan Garrett
- Cooking
- Hooky
- Toner
- LUCY (Cooper B. Handy)
- Greg Mendez
- Horse Jumper of Love
- Dead Sullivan
- Scarlet Rae
- Total Wife
- Fib
- A Country Western
- Her New Knife
- Options
That list runs through the whole of the band’s orbit — labelmates, fellow DIY bands, and artists they simply admire. The record treats each collaboration as a small feature, not a headline act.
Doug Dulgarian Explains the Title
Bandleader Doug Dulgarian offered a personal history of the mixtape format when explaining the project’s title. “The word mixtape initially meant a homespun tape that you typically listened to yourself or gave to somebody else,” he said. “For me who was born later, it meant mashups of all my favorite artists by local DJs.”
He framed the record as a direct descendant of that idea. “And so that’s what I did with this one, mashups of all my favorite artists. Shoutout DJ WHITEOWL, RIP.”
What the Tracklist Actually Sounds Like
The record moves through a wide range of sounds, with the band often splitting lead vocals between themselves and their guests. Here is how the record’s highlights break down:
- “Rodman” — featuring Dupontpavilion and Beat Fella
- “My Happening” — featuring Spirit of the Beehive
- “Raincheat” — featuring Morgan Garrett
- “Old Irish” — featuring Taurus Judge, Fib, and Melaina Kol
- “Yellow Dolphins” — featuring Cooking, RXKNephew, FearDorian, and Izzy Camina
- “Happy as a Favor” — featuring Tony Bontana and Hooky
- “Town Crier” — featuring LUCY (Cooper B. Handy) and Full Body 2
The middle stretch of the record, from “Silkscreen Rubberhead” to “Charter Spec,” leans hardest on the label’s roster — Hooky, Toner, Greg Mendez, and Horse Jumper of Love all appear within a handful of tracks.
The Three Shared Tracks
The three songs released ahead of the full record give a sense of how the collaborations land. “Kool Marder” pairs the band with Cashier, while “The Rook” stands on its own as a pure band track. “Free Willy” closes the set, leaving the listener with a final guest-free statement.
Each of the three songs shares a common thread: the layered, dreamy production that defines the band’s sound.
The Road Ahead
They Are Gutting a Body of Water are not staying put after the record arrives. Next month, the band heads out on a headlining tour of the United States that runs through December.
The tour follows the release schedule closely, giving fans a chance to hear the full record live before the physical version lands in stores.
Our Take on Kool Faith / Loosies II
A 29-track mixtape with 20 featured artists is a bold move for a band that could easily have released a shorter, tighter album. It reads as a statement of intent — the band wants to connect with their peers, not isolate themselves at the top of the genre.
The record also functions as a document of the current scene. By gathering so many collaborators into one release, the band are making a case for the strength of the DIY shoegaze community.
There is a risk in overloading a release with this many names. Some tracks will inevitably feel like filler, and the sheer length of the record means listeners will need patience to get through it all. But the ambition is hard to ignore.
Why the Shoutout Matters
The shoutout to DJ WHITEOWL is more than a courtesy. It names an artist whose work shaped the bandleader’s understanding of what a mixtape could be, and it frames the record as a direct continuation of that tradition.
The inclusion of LUCY (Cooper B. Handy) and DJ Manny on separate tracks shows the band reaching across genres and labels to find the collaborators they want. That reach is the point of the whole project.
Kool Faith / Loosies II is a generous record. It asks for attention, patience, and a willingness to sit through a lot of music. For fans of the band, the payoff comes in the collaborations — Spirit of the Beehive, Hotline TNT, and RXK Nephew bring real weight to the tracks they touch.
The three shared songs are a strong entry point, and the full tracklist offers enough variety to reward repeated listens. This is a mixtape in the old sense — a collection of favorites, shared with friends — and in the new sense too, a mashup of influences brought together under one title.
The band have made a record that rewards attention, even as it demands it. That is a rare combination.
Source material: “They Are Gutting a Body of Water Prep Huge Mixtape and Drop Three Songs,” Pitchfork.
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